


Passion and Perception

by dettiot



Category: Veronica Mars (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-10
Updated: 2014-08-10
Packaged: 2018-02-12 12:57:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2110719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dettiot/pseuds/dettiot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Logan, Veronica and Wallace have a study date to get ready for an exam on Pride and Prejudice.  They learn the story better than any of them would expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Passion and Perception

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline: post-"One Angry Veronica"

**Logan** :  
 _but you like the taste of danger  
it shines like sugar on your lips  
and you like to stand in the line of fire  
just to show you can shoot straight from your hip_  
Mystery by the Indigo Girls

 

I move my thumbs rapidly, navigating through the carnage. I'm almost done with the level when there's a loud knock on the door.

I try to move faster, and the knock comes again. 

"Just a minute, Veronica," I yell, knowing that it's her on the other side of the door.

"Pause the damn game, Logan," she calls back.

I sigh, and shake my head. The girl knows me too well. I hit pause and toss the controller onto the coffee table, and head over to the door.

"I'm sorry, we don't want any Amway products today," I say, opening the door.

"You're in luck, because today I'm pitching the latest products from Mary Kay," Veronica says, walking in and heading towards the couch. She draws her bag over her head, and sits down with it in her lap. Digging through it, she starts tossing notebooks, pencils, a copy of Pride and Prejudice, and a DVD set. I walk over and pick it up.

"Oooo, Colin Firth! He's so dreamy," I say.

"Shut up," Veronica says, grabbing the DVD out of my hand. "It's the most complete version, that's why I picked it."

"Sure," I say, drawing out the word. I sit next to her on the couch and lean back against the cushions. 

"Where's Duncan?" she asks, looking around.

I turn and look at her. "Didn't you know?" She looks confused, so I fill her in. "He went up to Napa for the weekend. Jake called last night, asked him to come up, and you know Duncan . . ."

Veronica doesn't say anything. She just drops her gaze from mine, and stares at her hands for a moment.

I don't know what to say. Well, actually, I do. It's just that I have choices of what to say, and I don't know what to pick. I've become so used to being a jerk, and most of the time, it's automatic. But I then find that I've put my hand on top of hers, and I say, "Come on, V."

She lets my hand stay there. "Did he say anything to you?" she asks, looking up at me. 

I shake my head. "That's the point of the suite--we can ignore each other." 

She cocks her head, but doesn't say anything. Her hands are warm underneath mine, and they're trembling just the tiniest bit. She's really upset by this, and I don't know why, but I don't care. Because I'm leaning towards her, and she's leaning towards me, just a little.

And of course, at that moment, Wallace knocks on the door. 

Veronica pulls away quickly and gets up, letting in Wallace. "Hey, Wallace," she says, trying to act normally. But she's a bit brittle, a bit unsteady. 

We settle in, starting the DVD. I keep quiet, listening to Veronica and Wallace talking, discussing the book, commenting on the adaptation. I throw out an occasional comment, just to keep them on their toes. But I spend the bulk of the time watching Veronica.

She's got a lot bottled up inside her. The tension and the pressure has been rising within her, and I wonder when it's gonna pop. 

Whether I can make it pop.

After the first DVD, Veronica goes to the bathroom, and I'm left with Wallace. "So how was Chicago?" I ask.

Wallace looks over at me. "What's this all about?" I must look confused, because he keeps talking. "You have Ms. Cole, right, but you're in a different track. And I know you didn't do Pride and Prejudice--your class did Jane Eyre."

I shrug. "I never can keep those girly books separate."

He pauses for a minute, considering what to say, I think. Then he just nods. "Yeah, I know. But girls love them."

"They just talk so much," I say with a groan. "Talk, talk, talk."

"Like you don't know something about that," Wallace says with a small grin. 

"I know a challenge when I hear it," I say, picking up the controllers from the table. "Come on--actions speak louder than words."

By the time Veronica comes in with a soda and a bag of chips, we've gotten up to level three. Veronica rolls her eyes at us. "I should have known. Tell me, if guys are in a room with an XBox, and no one is playing on it, are the guys still male?"

"We'll never find out," I say as I attempt to kick Wallace's ass. 

Veronica plops down and watches us play for a few minutes. I can tell when her eyes are on me, but I do my best to ignore her. When Wallace manages to slash his way through me, I give up on the game and pop in the next DVD.

Wallace and I keep up a running commentary during the rest of the miniseries, while Veronica sits back and just watches. It's odd that this is really the first time the three of us have hung out; before, it was always me and Veronica or him and Veronica. It's not like when it's me, her, and Duncan; there's no memories, no missing person. I wonder if this will be the last time.

By the end of the DVD, though, I'd give anything for Wallace to be anywhere but here. As if he's reading my mind, he gets up and heads into the kitchen, and I hear the microwave going.

I turn towards Veronica. "So."

"Yeah," she says, turning to face me, tucking one leg underneath her. 

I could say something, or just ignore this prickling between us. But I don't care--I want this. I want her. I lean towards her, and cup her face. She looks at me for a long moment, her eyes as large as quarters. But I can feel her relaxing underneath my hand, tilting her head.

And I lean closer and kiss her. 

 

**_30 hours earlier . . ._**

**Veronica** :  
 _But she used to have a carefree mind of her own,_  
With a devilish look in her eye  
Saying "You can call me anything you like,  
But my name is Veronica"  
Veronica by Elvis Costello

 

"There's a kind of rightness in Veronica World, I have to say," I say, smiling at Wallace. "It's good to have you back, bro."

Wallace smiles and leans toward me. "Good to be back. But there is something that's needed to make Wallace World the happiest place on Earth."

"Okay, but I'm fresh out of Cinderella Castles and six-foot tall mice," I say with a laugh before picking up my soda.

"Ms. Cole told me that to get caught up, I need to read Pride and Prejudice and take the test on Monday. And I was wondering if you'd be my study buddy this weekend."

I put down my soda and scrunch up my face, getting ready to play with Wallace a bit. "Well, I did have plans to attend a small function down at the yacht club, before jetting off to St. Moritz for some early skiing . . . but I think I can fit you in." Wallace throws a fry at me, and I throw a chip at him. "Do you want to see my test? I got a really good grade . . ."

"No can do," Wallace says with a shake of the head. "Ms. Cole told me she was going to give me a different test. I believe her words were, 'Since you're going to go talk to Veronica about getting her test, I'm going to cut you off at the pass.' Is it just me, or do you suddenly feel like a herd of cattle?"

"Moooo."

"Why do I give you these openings?" Wallace asks.

"Oh, so many answers to that question . . ." a voice says behind me.

"Gee, and here I was, thinking this day was going too well. But wait! The universe steps in and corrects the imbalance." I turn around and look up at Logan.

Logan places a hand on his chest, and leans down to whisper in my ear. "I know it's love that makes you say such things."

"It's something that starts with an L," I say, glaring at him as he sits down at the table. "Although I don't think you meant to inspire loathing."

"What do you want, Logan?" Wallace asks, trying to act like the gentleman he is.

"Ms. Cole sent me to find you. She wants me to study with you this weekend."

"Huh?" Wallace says, saying what I'm thinking.

Logan tugs at his ear, a quirk that I've noticed him doing before. "She's suffering from new teacher syndrome--she wants to save each and every student. I skipped a few classes here and there, missed a test or two. I've got to take the make-up exam on Pride and Prejudice, and Ms. Cole 'strongly encouraged' me," he says, using air quotes, "to study with you." 

I look over at Wallace, trying to get a feel for what he thinks. Logan notices the look, and says, "Come on, it's not like I'm asking you to join me in stealing candy from babies or kicking homeless guys. I'll even sweeten the pot. You guys can come on over to the suite, we can order up caviar, and you'll know that Celeste is paying for it."

I didn't like the sound of this. Logan had to have some ulterior motive; I'd bet my college money on it, if I had any. Sure, Logan could be on the up-and-up, but I knew him too well. Of course, those times that I expected the worst, he would usually surprise me. 

I shrug my shoulders. "Fine by me. Chez Mars, we'd have stale Cheez Doodles and a large, slobbering dog."

"All right, Echolls. We'll see you around six at the Grand?" Wallace says, his voice sounding a bit strained.

"See you then," Logan says with a nod to both of us.

We watched him walk away, then I turn towards Wallace. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" 

"Because you're overly suspicious to the point of paranoia, and have been burned about seventeen times too many by Logan Echolls?" I glare at him, and he raises his hands in the air. "Hey, just calling them the way I see them. That's how I roll."

At that moment, the bell rang, and I got up, picking up my bag. "I'm going to ignore that character assassination, because I am a good student who gets to class on time."

"Uh-huh," Wallace says, grinning up at me. "Or you just don't want to lose an argument to yours truly."

"Go to class," I say, tossing a balled-up napkin at him.

He gets up and follows me into school, but I can't help thinking about what Wallace said. I'll concede that I tend to look for the cloud behind the silver lining, but it's because experience has taught me that it's better to be pleasantly surprised than unfortunately disappointed. With Logan, though . . . I keep hoping for a surprise. Even now. 

 

**_35 hours later . . ._ **

**Wallace** :  
 _woke up this morning_  
i suddenly realized  
we're all in this together  
i started smiling  
cos you were smiling  
and we're all in this together  
We're All In This Together by Ben Lee

 

Damn, this is just wrong. Not wrong in an ethical way, although it kinda is, or wrong meaning a mistake or a screw-up. It's more of a creepy, oh-please-God-let-me-go-blind-right-now kind of wrong. 

Watching your best friend make out with her former boyfriend is definitely not right. And part of me wants to just ignore this, to slip away and go home, go find Jackie, go anywhere. Leave Veronica to her crazy-ass soap opera triangle.

But Veronica's my best friend. And as far as I know, she's happy with Duncan, and I thought I knew Veronica well enough to know that she'd never cheat on him, especially with Echolls. So, I take a step back, do a loud fake-cough, then come back into the room, talking like I have no idea that they were inspecting each others' mouths with their tongues.

"So I don't get why girls love Pride and Prejudice. I mean, yeah, Jane and Lizzie are fine, but the guys are just limp."

I slouch down on the couch next to Veronica, offering my bag of popcorn to her. I do my best to ignore Echolls, who's sitting there with a silly, stupid little grin on his face. I know that grin--I've seen it in the mirror after dates that ended well. 

Veronica's eating popcorn, talking about Pride and Prejudice, and trying to straighten her clothes without me noticing. "I don't think all girls love Pride and Prejudice."

"Yeah? Name one girl who doesn't get all fluttery at the thought of Colin Firth," I say, trying to act normal until I can get Veronica alone and ask her what the hell she was thinking.

"Hell, I get fluttery," Logan says, and I resist the urge to glare at him, and instead give him a "what the hell, man?" look. Echolls shrugs, and shifts down on the sofa, managing to get a bit closer to Veronica.

"But Colin Firth isn't what Pride and Prejudice is about. It's about the role of women in England, and their lack of rights, since men thought that women weren't fit for anything beyond trimming bonnets," Veronica says, grabbing another handful of popcorn. 

"Funny, I thought it also had something to do with assuming the worst of people, and finding that those assumptions were wrong," says Logan in a blase voice.

"I'm not surprised that you got that out of the book," Veronica says. "But it's just a surface impression--trust me, Wallace, on the test, you'll want to go deeper."

"That's our Veronica, ladies and gentlemen," Logan says, throwing his arms up in the air. "Ignoring the obviously easy in favor of the overly complicated."

"That's your M.O., for sure," Veronica says, turning to face Echolls. "It's easier being a lazy jackass, so why bother being anything else?" 

"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try," he quotes, giving her a cheeky grin.

"Yes, Master Yoda," she says, picking up her copy of Pride and Prejudice and acting like she was trying to ignore him.

I rolled my eyes. This was getting to be a bit much. First they were making out, now they were bickering. No, fighting, was more like it. I don't get them; I didn't understand what Veronica saw in him when they were going out, and I sure as hell didn't know why she'd be interested in him now. 

"Well, kids, it's been fun. We'll have to do this again sometime," Echolls says, standing up and heading for the door. "Feel free to raid the minibar, call room service, whatever. After all, it's not like I'm paying for it." He gives a little wave and practically skips out of the room.

I watched him leave, then turned to Veronica, who has a weird expression on her face. Like she was happy to see him go, because otherwise, she had too much to think about. But at the same time, she looked a bit . . . sad.

Girls are just weird.

But now that Echolls was gone, I could finally stop biting my tongue.

"So, girl, you gonna tell me why the hell you were making out with Echolls?"

Veronica sighs, and drops her head into her hands. "When I know, I'll let you know."

I shrugged, and threw an arm around her shoulders. "Now, come on. Tell your Uncle Wallace all about it." 

"Wow, it's like I'm on a soap opera! I have an uncle who's six months younger than I am," Veronica says in that 'pep squad princess' voice that she likes to use sometimes. 

I grin at her, and she rolls her eyes a little before smiling at me. "Come on, V," I say, purposefully using one of Echolls' nicknames for her. "There's gotta be a reason, an explanation."

Veronica looks away, staring off into the distance. "I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."

"Huh?" I say, thinking that the line sounded familiar.

Veronica starts and turns to look at me. "I'll explain later, Wallace. Come on, let's get out of here."

I nod, and start picking up my stuff. As we walk out of the room, I shoot a look at Veronica, and I wonder when 'later' will be. I know that Veronica's got plenty of secrets, and I've tried to accept that. Doesn't mean I like it. But we're still friends. We're both still in this together.

End.


End file.
